Orientalism and Integrative History: a study of an early 20th century Islamic Periodical in Singapore

Abstract

Al-Imam (The Leader), which was published in Singapore from 1906 to 1908, has been considered to be the first Islamic `reformist? periodical in the region. It has at times, been also called a `Pan-Islamic? publication. Departing from previous studies which examined the periodical from these perspectives, this thesis positions Al-Imam as a text produced by Muslim intellectuals under the ambit of imperialism and examines the text in terms of styles of thought. Utilizing Edward Said?s concept of Orientalism as the guiding conceptual framework, this study argues that there exists a complex co-existence of Orientalism and Orientalism in reverse in the contents of the periodical . This argument provides a more nuanced understanding of Al-Imam and takes into account the broader and rapidly changing socio-political milieu of the time. In the second part of the study, we observe that Al-Imam?s portrayal of Islamic linkages between Southeast Asia-Middle East has its parallels in academic studies on Islam in Southeast Asia. Due to the problems posed by Orientalism in such portrayals, we suggest that an `integrative history? approach can serve as one possible alternative in studying such linkages.